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MELBOURNE mother of four Annice Smoel was drunk and shouted at Thai police who arrested her for stealing an $80 mat from a bar, police and witnesses say.
Witnesses said she abused two policemen and demanded to see their superior officer after being arrested outside the Aussie Bar in Phuket about 2am on May 3.
She was taken to Kathu police headquarters nearby.
The officer in charge, Lt-Maj Jongseam Preecha, said Ms Smoel was very drunk and kept shouting at him.
"She was very rude to the two police, but they didn't properly understand what she was saying," he said.
"They brought her to me, and she was very loud."
He said Ms Smoel claimed the bar mat had been put in her bag by friends, but he denied anyone had come forward to say they'd put it there.
She would appear in court next Monday and, if found guilty could be fined up to $400 or jailed for up to five years.
Ms Smoel was charged with "night-time theft", which carries a higher punishment.
Aussie Bar owner Steve Wood claimed Ms Smoel was abusive to undercover police.
"When they talked to her, all they wanted to do was chastise her, and they usually let you go," he alleged. "But she did a runner on them . . . The police had to chase her down the beach. She continued to abuse everyone, including the chief of police, and I think this is what the problem is."
A MELBOURNE mother of four is stranded in Thailand and facing a possible jail term over what she says was a practical joke that backfired.
Annice Smoel, 36, yesterday pleaded for Federal Government help during an emotional telephone call from Thailand, where she has been granted bail on a theft charge.
She has missed being with her eldest daughter, who had emergency surgery for appendicitis, and the 11th birthday of her second-eldest.
Her brother-in-law Gary Smoel, who with his wife is caring for the children, said the 12-year-old was too upset to go to school.
Maurice Blackburn law firm chairman Bernard Murphy said Ms Smoel had committed no crime but had been absent when two friends placed a bar mat in her handbag as a joke.
Ms Smoel was detained by police, spent four nights in jail, and is now stuck in Thailand, supported by her husband as she faces another 14 weeks on bail until the next stage of her prosecution.
Mr Murphy said prosecutors had estimated she could spend between one and five years in a Thai prison if she is found guilty.
Two of her friends, who were travelling with her to celebrate her mother's birthday, have apologised in a sworn statement for hiding the bar mat in what they called a "silly" joke.
The women, named Samantha and Jodie, said in the statement that police were told Smoel was unaware when they placed the mat from the Aussie Bar in Phuket in her bag.
They said police initially let her go, but she was stopped later by bar staff and sent to a police booth. "What started off as a very silly joke has turned into a very serious matter and for that we are sincerely apologetic," the women said.
Yesterday, Ms Smoel described her horror at her time in jail. She said she believed she and her friends had been targeted because they were women "on our own" without a man to talk to police about a bribe.
"If there had...been a man with us to do that for us, then that would have been done and that would have been the end of it."
She said she was not made aware that her husband, Darren, and mother were negotiating for her release.
"I just felt scared and hopeless and alone," she said. "If they wanted to teach me a lesson, they have well and truly done it."
But Aussie Bar owner Steve Wood told 3AW that he was told police had chased Ms Smoel to the beach, and that she had been disrespectful to a senior policeman.
"I think it's more an attitude problem than a crime problem," he said.
Mr Wood said the bar had not pressed charges over the missing mat, which he said was worth $50 or $60.
Darren Smoel said he would not return home without his wife.
Late yesterday, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said Australian authorities were providing consular support and had contacted the Thai Government.
Premier John Brumby said the State Government was doing all it could to bring Ms Smoel home. "She's a Victorian and we want to get her back," Mr Brumby said.
Ha ha! Night time crime, eh? That's a new one on me!
Witnesses said she abused two policemen and demanded to see their superior officer after being arrested outside the Aussie Bar in Phuket about 2am on May 3.
She was taken to Kathu police headquarters nearby.
The officer in charge, Lt-Maj Jongseam Preecha, said Ms Smoel was very drunk and kept shouting at him.
"She was very rude to the two police, but they didn't properly understand what she was saying," he said.
"They brought her to me, and she was very loud."
He said Ms Smoel claimed the bar mat had been put in her bag by friends, but he denied anyone had come forward to say they'd put it there.
She would appear in court next Monday and, if found guilty could be fined up to $400 or jailed for up to five years.
Ms Smoel was charged with "night-time theft", which carries a higher punishment.
Aussie Bar owner Steve Wood claimed Ms Smoel was abusive to undercover police.
"When they talked to her, all they wanted to do was chastise her, and they usually let you go," he alleged. "But she did a runner on them . . . The police had to chase her down the beach. She continued to abuse everyone, including the chief of police, and I think this is what the problem is."
A MELBOURNE mother of four is stranded in Thailand and facing a possible jail term over what she says was a practical joke that backfired.
Annice Smoel, 36, yesterday pleaded for Federal Government help during an emotional telephone call from Thailand, where she has been granted bail on a theft charge.
She has missed being with her eldest daughter, who had emergency surgery for appendicitis, and the 11th birthday of her second-eldest.
Her brother-in-law Gary Smoel, who with his wife is caring for the children, said the 12-year-old was too upset to go to school.
Maurice Blackburn law firm chairman Bernard Murphy said Ms Smoel had committed no crime but had been absent when two friends placed a bar mat in her handbag as a joke.
Ms Smoel was detained by police, spent four nights in jail, and is now stuck in Thailand, supported by her husband as she faces another 14 weeks on bail until the next stage of her prosecution.
Mr Murphy said prosecutors had estimated she could spend between one and five years in a Thai prison if she is found guilty.
Two of her friends, who were travelling with her to celebrate her mother's birthday, have apologised in a sworn statement for hiding the bar mat in what they called a "silly" joke.
The women, named Samantha and Jodie, said in the statement that police were told Smoel was unaware when they placed the mat from the Aussie Bar in Phuket in her bag.
They said police initially let her go, but she was stopped later by bar staff and sent to a police booth. "What started off as a very silly joke has turned into a very serious matter and for that we are sincerely apologetic," the women said.
Yesterday, Ms Smoel described her horror at her time in jail. She said she believed she and her friends had been targeted because they were women "on our own" without a man to talk to police about a bribe.
"If there had...been a man with us to do that for us, then that would have been done and that would have been the end of it."
She said she was not made aware that her husband, Darren, and mother were negotiating for her release.
"I just felt scared and hopeless and alone," she said. "If they wanted to teach me a lesson, they have well and truly done it."
But Aussie Bar owner Steve Wood told 3AW that he was told police had chased Ms Smoel to the beach, and that she had been disrespectful to a senior policeman.
"I think it's more an attitude problem than a crime problem," he said.
Mr Wood said the bar had not pressed charges over the missing mat, which he said was worth $50 or $60.
Darren Smoel said he would not return home without his wife.
Late yesterday, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said Australian authorities were providing consular support and had contacted the Thai Government.
Premier John Brumby said the State Government was doing all it could to bring Ms Smoel home. "She's a Victorian and we want to get her back," Mr Brumby said.
Ha ha! Night time crime, eh? That's a new one on me!
(Just joshing, Ozzie!) 
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